


Bad Blood

by treedunked



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-26
Updated: 2019-01-26
Packaged: 2019-10-17 06:25:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17555075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/treedunked/pseuds/treedunked
Summary: Boyd comes to check if Ned’s made up his mind about the heist. Things get tense.





	Bad Blood

**Author's Note:**

> i’m relentless and this tag is never going to be free from me. i really like writing this boys! 
> 
> if you’re interested in beta reading my moschicane fics or have suggestions, message me at aubreylittlee on tumblr

     The sun crawled off the horizon in a pink sunset, peaking through the trees and the mountain with its last leg of light. The light scattered off the side of the Cryptonomica, the bright glossy letters of the sign reflecting a dark pink from the usual black meeting the hue. Outside in the lot, there was a singular food truck displaying the building’s name proudly. The paint job that Kirby had given it was so good that it would take a detective to ever tell it used to be a crepe truck. Obviously, it still looked like a food truck but whatever food was served in it is ambiguous. 

Boyd Mosche like a shadow moves across the lot of the Cryptonomica and easily picks the lock. The door flutters closed behind the silhouette and scarcely makes a sound, just the ghost of a soft thump resonating in  the darkening sky. Navigating the building was easy enough, just a matter of slipping through the shelves without disturbing anything. It appeared that the man who was uncannily reminiscent of Ryan Gosling was sleeping peacefully on the couch, and he was tucked in securely, just like the last time. He gives a cursory glance over all the knicknacks in the building, noting all the absurd exhibits. Showed off Ned’s artistry.

They did one a many con off of his cunning, pawning off many fakes due to Ned’s elaborate lies. They were always so weird, but he had the way of twisting them to be just enough to sell whatever garbage they had for sale. 

The pleasant thought enters the thief’s mind for a moment as he moves towards the empty back which was recently cleaned out from his last visit there. He stops in his tracks to chide his train of thought, because based on the last time he met Ned he wasn’t the same person at all. Fifteen years had made him into a different man, and it was stupid to entertain the notion that he was at all the same cunning criminal he had shared his life with. Shared  _ everything  _ with. His expression sours, and his hands ball into familiar fists as he moved light as a mouse into the door of the inner sanctum of the Cryptonomica. He didn’t have to pick the lock, because it had just been opened a bit ago. He cranes his neck to hear the sound of shuffling footsteps.

Ned didn’t entirely know why he was standing in the almost empty inner sanctum, Boyd had pretty much cleared it out. Inwardly, he suspected it was because he needed a break. He needed a moment to clear his congested head, which was overcrowded from the stress of the reappearance of his old partner. He immediately reached for his ring finger to twist where a ring used to sit, an old quirk he had whenever he was nervous. His fingers were met by skin, a light line where the ring used to be. He laughed bitterly at how stupid the gesture was, and halfway through the laughter the sound of the door creaking open gave him pause. “ Billy, I’ve told you you can’t come back here. It’s very private, like my secret lair you know— I can’t have people come in here or else I’ll never have the luxury of privacy ever again. “ Even though his voice was light, there was this anxiety to it. As if he  _ knew  _ it wasn’t Billy, and was bracing himself for the familiar British voice.

“ Guess again, Ned. Really need to get better locks, don’t you…? “ Boyd entered in the dark inner sanctum with a relaxed expression, his hand pressing against the heavy door and pushing it closed. Then even more absentmindedly, “ And maybe some WD-40 for that door— creaks like the devil. “ From where he stood, Ned bristled in agitation. His brows furrowed and his teeth locked over one another in a grimace. “ Boyd. “ His words dripped with venom, and he kept his back turned to him as if ignoring his face would make him go away. It definitely wasn’t because it was difficult to stay mad at him with his dark warm eyes bearing into him, definitely nothing like that.

“ Always so hostile, Ned. It’s almost like our years together meant nothing to you. “ Boyd commented, his words pointed and hiding an emotion that Ned couldn’t place, but he knew there was more to it than aggression because he  _ knows  _ when Boyd really is pissed and would know when he genuinely wouldn’t care. Ned’s expression shifted to slightly pained when he commented about their shared years, and he dug his nails into his palms in frustration. He could feel his back locking up in anger, hunched over the way he does when he’s frustrated. “ … No matter. I just came to check in on what the status was about Shade Tree. Have you made up your mind Ned? “ 

Ned had not made up his mind, with everything Mama had done for him the last thing he wanted to do was steal from right under her nose. If she found out, his life in the Pine Guard would be ruined, and his relationship with Duck and Aubrey ( although he didn’t see his relationship with Aubrey staying strong too much longer given his hospital revelation ) would be damaged, potentially beyond repair. The thought made his stomach twist into tiny knots, because he didn’t want to go back to the life he was living before. He  _ knew  _ he wasn’t the best the Pine Guard could have, he was just a normal guy, and he wasn’t even a normal guy with abilities past stealing and lying through his teeth. Ned’s figure slumped, and he sighed a deep air that left him deflated like a flat balloon. There were two options, and both were bad. One was bad for him, and the other was bad for Aubrey— and hadn’t he done enough already to Aubrey as it was. “ Fuck Boyd… “ He spoke through gritted teeth, and he moved his hand again to fiddle with his ring finger. “ … You’ve really put me in a shitty spot, and … ”

“ Well, Ned, you had me in that spot for about fifteen years. It’s hard to feel sympathetic. ” Boyd said, although trough all his anger it was a lie. He didn’t enjoy putting Ned through pain, even if he left him for dead. Ned stood there in silence for a moment before turning to Boyd, his face no longer angry but resigned. He looked up at Boyd with tired blue eyes and moved closer. Soon, they were standing across from one another, Ned’s posture crumpled and defeated. “ What happened to  _ us _ , Boyd…? ” The question startled Boyd, who hadn’t considered that Ned had considered them as a unit in years. His words caught in his throat. He wanted to say something cool, uncaring, but instead a garbled. “ You left me for dead, Ned. I waited  _ fifteen years  _ for a letter, for at least a thank you for taking our sentence— and, and now you can’t even do a simple robbery! I’m not asking you to kill anyone, I just need the Shade Tree to have enough money to go … to go home. ” Ned looked at Boyd with a pained expression, and Boyd tried his best to look anywhere but blue eyes that were pleading for him to look at the other man the way he did before their relationship went to hell. 

“ That just wasn’t in the cards— there was no way I could do that without… you know. And I didn’t even know what jail they put you in! ” Ned tried to explain, but his words were coming out wrong. Fifteen years worth of words piled up behind a dam in his brain and he could feel them tempt to slip out of him. Boyd wouldn’t look him in the eyes, he knew that meant he wasn’t entirely convinced on the notion of just abandoning Ned all over again. Boyd began to step away, but Ned grabbed his arm. “ I know that this is going to sound like absolute bullshit, but there wasn’t a second I didn’t wish I could’ve brought you with me when I left. You were out cold, and I couldn’t bring you with me without us both being caught—” Boyd’s arm stiffened at being grabbed, and he moved to tug it away but Ned held on tighter. Everything was spilling out, “ I… I hate that this happened. I hate that we are like this now, a-and I hate that you won’t even look me in the eyes. A-and I hate that even though I want to see you as the worst thing that ever happened to me, that I can’t stop … I can’t stop wanting to see you again. ” 

Thump.

Muscular arms wrap around the stout figure and bring him close. Ned is surprised by the sensation, but his tense arms only hesitate for a moment to wrap themselves entirely around the expanse of Boyd’s waist. He rests his head against his chest and listens to the sound of his heart pound rapidly, and he remembers laying in a hotel room when they could only afford one bed curled in the arms of his partner because the room was cold as shit. “ I missed this. ” Ned mumbled into his chest, running his hands up and down Boyd’s back which crooks into his palms. Fifteen years without intimate contact left him yearning for it, so Boyd definitely was a little touch starved.

“ So… if you don’t have the money to go back home, does that mean you’ll be stuck here for a little while? ” Ned proved from where he was hugging, blue eyes darting up to meet brown ones. He couldn’t help but smile at the dilated pupils, he could always tell when Boyd was enamored. “ Well I can always pawn off everything I stole from in here, but since the majority of it was junk I doubt it’d give me as much as the Shade Tree. ” Boyd replies, his fingers moving to Ned’s hair to gently tousle it. “ Junk?! Those are all valuable possessions that I have accumulated over the years— no wonder I always was the one that got us the best sales. You have no eyes, Boyd Mosche. ” Ned tried his best to sound offended, but he couldn’t help but smile. “ I dunno, I think I got my eye on something pretty good right now… ” “ Hmm, a broken clock is right once a day, you know. ”


End file.
